Post-Doctoral Fellow (2010–2012) – The role of sensory ecology in species recognition and its implications for speciation (work supported by an "IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology" awarded to SJP), University College Dublin, Ireland & Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany

Post-Doctoral Researcher (2009–2010) – Evolution of hearing in mammals, University College Dublin, Ireland

Ph.D (2005–2009) – A molecular and ecological investigation into the evolutionary history of Craseonycteris thonglongyai, University College Dublin, Ireland (supervisor: Dr. Emma Teeling)

Research interest

I am an evolutionary biologist with a strong background in ecology, population genetics and phylogenetics. However, my research is founded on an integrative approach combining molecular, morphological, ecological and behavioural data with modelling techniques, and aims to disentangle factors involved in speciation as well as those shaping species distributions through time and space. My work ranges from:

elucidating the proximate and ultimate causes of speciation and the interplay between natural and sexual selection

studies on species distributions and population dynamics (e.g. range shifts/contractions/expansions)

investigations into current population structure in relation to habitat and climatic environment

predictions about the impact that current/future change (e.g. climate change, invasive species, habitat change) will have on species ranges, genetic diversity, connectivity between populations and diseases

studies on host-pathogen interactions with particular attention to pathogen's reservoirs, modes of infection, and transmission and their impact on host fitness

Research grants and funding

2018:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), €222,276 to study the population structure, evolution and thermal adaptation of the causative agent of the White Nose disease, Geomyces destructans in bats (2018–2021) (PI: S.J. Puechmaille)

2017:

Conservatoire d'espaces naturels de Midi-Pyrénées, €2,000 to investigate the presence of cryptic species in Myotis nattereri (2017–2019) (PI: S.J. Puechmaille)

Bat Conservation International, $27,937 to identify the European source population of North American Geomyces destructans, the WNS fungus (PI: S.J. Puechmaille)

2012:

National Geographic Society / Waitt Grants program, $14,765.00 for exploring bat diversity in the Osa Peninsula and building local capacity for research and long term acoustic monitoring (2011–2013) (PI: E. Boston, G. Chaverri & S.J. Puechmaille)

39–Investigations into the origins and spread of the causative agent of White Nose Disease in batsPuechmaille S Royal Society Meeting on Tackling emerging threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience: the state of the art, Chicheley Hall, UK, 9th–10th March 2016. (Invited speaker)

35–On the presence and ecology of Geomyces destructans in Eurasia and its relationship with batsPuechmaille S and Fritze MXIIIth European Bat Research Symposium, Sibenik, Croatia, 1st–5th Septembre 2014.

28–Modelling Geomyces destructans distribution in North America and Eurasia using ecological niche modelling: what can we learn?Puechmaille S and Rebelo H Third international Berlin bat meeting: bats in the anthropocene, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany, 1st–3rd March 2013.(Invited speaker)

7–Variation in the frequency of the echolocation calls of Craseonycteris thonglongyai in Thailand and MyanmarPuechmaille S, and Teeling EThe First International South-East Asian Bat Conference, Club Andaman Resort Beach Hotel, Patong, Phuket, Thailand, 7th–10th May 2007.

6–Population genetics and conservation status of the samallest mammal in the world, Craseonycteris thonglongyaiPuechmaille S, and Teeling E2nd Postgraduate Ecology Forum, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 12th–13th March 2007.

5–Craseonycteris thonglongyai: one species or two? Puechmaille S, and Teeling E36th North American Symposium on Bat Research, Hilton Riverside, Wilmington, U.S.A., 18th–21st October 2006.